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Muscular fatigue is a factor that influence heavily performance of athletes. There is a lack of data about effect of massage with substances “ad hoc”. The aim of our research was to investigate the effect of application of ozonated oil on some parameters linked to fatigue in cyclists. 30 cyclists male was divided in two groups of 15 (PLO= placebo oil; OZO=ozonated Oil). Subjects was submitted in two different session to work protocol that consist in a rectangular test on cyclergometer followed by 30’ of rest. After the rest athletes performed an incremental test. HR (heart rate), Wmax (Watt maximal), RPE (rate of Perceived Exertion) and Lab(Blood Lactate) was misured at the end and after 5’ and 10’ after the test. In the first session (PS) subjects remained at completely rest after rectangular test (30’ rest), in the second session athletes executed a self massage (MS) on lower limbs with OZO or PLO during rest. Results showns that 10’ after test massage “di per se” may reduce the Lab (PLO PS 10’ Lab 7.4 ± 0.6 vs PLO MS 10’ 6.3 ± 1) but there was a greater significant reduction with ozonated oil (OZO PS 10’ Lab 7.6 ± 0.9 vs OZO MS 10’ 4.2 ± 1.3). There was no significant difference on HR and Wmax whilst there was significant difference on RPE within the groups (PLO PS vs PLO MS 17.6 ± 0.4 vs 16.6 ± 1; OZO PS vs OZO MS 17.3 ± 0.2 vs 15.7 ± 0.8) and between massage with OZO or PLO (PLO MS vs OZO MS 16.6 ± 1 vs 15.7 ± 0.8). In conclusion our study demonstrate that massage “di per se” may reduce blood lactate and RPE after intense exercise but also that massage with ozonated oil may increase benefits of massage.

OBJECTIVES: To study the effects of passive rest (PR) and sports massage with (SMOZO) and without (SM) ozonised oil on sports performance psycho-physiological indices in competitive amateur cyclists after 3 pre-fatiguing Wingate cycle and post-recovery ramp tests. DESIGN: An intra-subjects experimental design with repeated measures. SETTING: Department of Human Anatomy and Physiology, University of Padua. PARTICIPANTS: Fifteen male competitive cyclists (age: 27 ± 3.5 years, body weight: 77.6 ± 8.3 kg, height: 178 ± 7.7 cm) were studied. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Subjects' power output (P), heart rate (HR), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score and blood lactate (BL) clearance in response to PR, SMOZO and SM recoveries were compared. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in cyclists' heart rate patterns in the three experimental conditions (p > 0.05). After SMOZO recovery, athletes showed a higher Pmax (p < 0.05) and a lower perceived fatigue VAS score (p < 0.033) in the ramp test. Blood lactate decreased more at T2 (mid-time point of treatment) and T3 (final time point of treatment) than T1 (beginning of treatment) compared to SM and PR conditions. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that use of ozonised oil during sports massage increases blood lactate removal, improves performance and reduces the perception of fatigue in cyclists from 3 Wingate tests. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.